Bus drivers in Greater Manchester began an eleven-week strike, one of the longest in British transportation history.
Benedict XVI became the first pope in nearly 600 years to resign from the papacy.
During a period of religious violence in Gujarat, India, mobs of Hindus attacked Muslims in Naroda Patiya and in Chamanpura, resulting in 166 deaths.
A high-speed train crash occurred near Selby in North Yorkshire, England, killing 10 and injuring 82.
GRB 970228, a highly luminous 80-second flash of gamma rays, was detected on Earth, providing early evidence that gamma-ray bursts occur well beyond the Milky Way.
Two heavily armed bank robbers exchanged gunfire with officers of the Los Angeles Police Department in North Hollywood, in one of the most intense gun battles in American police history.
The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army launched a mortar attack on a Royal Ulster Constabulary station in Newry, Northern Ireland, killing nine people.
A London Underground train failed to stop at the terminal Moorgate station, crashing and causing the deaths of 43 people.
The British election ended in a hung parliament after the Liberal Party, under Jeremy Thorpe, achieved their highest ever number of votes.
Japanese police stormed a mountain lodge near Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, to end a ten-day siege by members of the paramilitary group United Red Army.
Chicago alderman Benjamin F. Lewis was murdered in his office by unknown assailants two days after having been reelected.
Nationalist soldiers fired on protesters in Taipei (crowd pictured), triggering widespread uprisings and violent suppression in the White Terror.
In one of the most famous errors in lexicography, the erroneous word dord was discovered in Webster's New International Dictionary by an editor.
Indian physicist C. V. Raman and his colleagues discovered what is now known as Raman scattering, for which he later became the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize in Physics.
In the aftermath of the Balkan Wars, Greeks living in southern Albania proclaimed the short-lived Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus.
The most successful football club in Portugal, S.L. Benfica (first team pictured), was founded in Lisbon as Sport Lisboa.
Ranavalona III (pictured), the last sovereign ruler of the Kingdom of Madagascar, was deposed by French military forces.
USS Indiana, the lead ship of her class and the first battleship in the United States Navy comparable to foreign battleships of the time, was launched.
In one of the longest cases ever heard in an English court, the claimant in the Tichborne case was convicted of perjury for attempting to assume the identity of the missing heir to the Tichborne baronetcy.
The National Covenant was formally adopted in opposition to proposed reforms to the Church of Scotland by King Charles I.
Rebel leader Liu Bang declared himself Emperor Gaozu of Han after overthrowing the Qin dynasty, the first imperial dynasty of China.
Prime Minister Modi of India inaugurated the 2nd Space Port of India - Kulasekarapattinam Spaceport.
Two trains collide south of the Vale of Tempe in Greece, leading to the deaths of at least 57 people and leaving 58 missing and 85 injured.
Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so since Pope Gregory XII in 1415.
During the religious violence in Gujarat, 97 people are killed in the Naroda Patiya massacre and 69 in the Gulbarg Society massacre.
The 2001 Nisqually earthquake, having a moment magnitude of 6.8, with epicenter in the southern Puget Sound, damages Seattle metropolitan area.
An earthquake in northern Iran is responsible for about 1,100 deaths.
A Turkish military memorandum resulted in the collapse of the coalition government in Turkey.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh, starting a 51-day standoff.
Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-36.
Olof Palme, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers.
The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 110 million viewers.
In London, an underground train fails to stop at Moorgate terminus station and crashes into the end of the tunnel, killing 43 people.
The British election ended in a hung parliament after the Jeremy Thorpe-led Liberal Party achieved their biggest vote share since 1929.
Aeroflot Flight X-167 crashes during takeoff from Semey Airport, killing 32 people.
The 1969 Portugal earthquake hits Portugal, Spain and Morocco.
A NASA T-38 Talon crashes into the McDonnell Aircraft factory while attempting a poor-visibility landing at Lambert Field, St. Louis, killing astronauts Elliot See and Charles Bassett.
Discoverer 1, an American spy satellite that is the first object intended to achieve a polar orbit, is launched but fails to achieve orbit.
A school bus in Floyd County, Kentucky hits a wrecker truck and plunges down an embankment into the rain-swollen Levisa Fork river. The driver and 26 children die in one of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history.
The 1948 Accra riots erupted following a march by ex-servicemen of the Gold Coast Regiment towards the seat of the colonial government at Christiansborg Castle where they were fired upon by Superintendant Colin Imray leading to the killing of Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey and the arrest of the Big Six in the Gold Coast.
February 28 incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with the death of an estimated 18,000 - 28,000 civilians.
The Charlevoix-Kamouraska earthquake strikes northeastern North America.
The United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
A gun explodes on board the steam warship USS Princeton during a pleasure cruise down the Potomac River, killing six, including Secretary of State Abel Upshur. President John Tyler, who was also on board, was not injured from the blast.
Elias Lönnrot signed and dated the first version of the Kalevala, the so-called foreword to the Old Kalevala.
The Scottish National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh.
Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés.
The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
Vitor Roque, Brazilian footballer
Moise Kean, Italian footballer
Josip Šutalo, Croatian footballer
Luka Dončić, Slovenian basketball player
Teun Koopmeiners, Dutch footballer
Chris Lindstrom, American football player
Bobb'e J. Thompson, American actor
Jakub Vrána, Czech ice hockey player
Lucas Boyé, Argentinian footballer
Axel Werner, Argentinian footballer
Randy Arozarena, Cuban-Mexican baseball player
Madisen Beaty, American actress
Quinn Shephard, American actress
Alex Caruso, American basketball player
Arkadiusz Milik, Polish footballer
Marquis Teague, American basketball player
Éder Álvarez Balanta, Colombian footballer
Sarah Bolger, Irish actress
Ronalds Ķēniņš, Latvian ice hockey player
Takayasu Akira, Japanese sumo wrestler
Ryan Allen, American football player
Sebastian Rudy, German footballer
Carlos Dunlap, American football player
Charles Jenkins, American basketball player
Aroldis Chapman, Cuban baseball player
Akito, Japanese professional wrestler
Antonio Candreva, Italian footballer
Michelle Horn, American actress
Josh McRoberts, American basketball player
Tim Bresnan, English cricketer
Diego, Brazilian footballer
Jelena Janković, Serbian tennis player
Karolína Kurková, Czech model and actress
Ali Marhyar, French actor, film director and screenwriter
Isabel Mendes Lopes, Portuguese politician
Natalia Vodianova, Russian-French model and actress
Brian Bannister, American baseball player and scout
Pascal Bosschaart, Dutch footballer
Christian Poulsen, Danish footballer
Tayshaun Prince, American basketball player
Sébastien Bourdais, French race car driver
Ivo Karlović, Croatian tennis player
Geoffrey Arend, American actor
Benjamin Raich, Austrian skier
Jamaal Tinsley, American basketball player
Mariano Zabaleta, Argentinian tennis player
Jason Aldean, American singer-songwriter
Lance Hoyt, American football player and wrestler
Francisco Elson, Dutch basketball player
Ali Larter, American actress and model
Mike Rucker, American football player
Lee Carsley, English-Irish footballer and manager
Alexander Zickler, German footballer and manager
Eric Lindros, Canadian ice hockey player
Nicolas Minassian, French race car driver
Masato Tanaka, Japanese wrestler
Rory Cochrane, American actor
Ville Haapasalo, Finnish actor and screenwriter
Junya Nakano, Japanese pianist and composer
Tasha Smith, American actress, director, and producer
Daniel Brochu, Canadian actor
Daniel Handler, American author, musician, screenwriter, and producer
Noureddine Morceli, Algerian runner
Sean Farrel, English footballer
Butch Leitzinger, American race car driver
Robert Sean Leonard, American actor
Pat Monahan, American singer-songwriter and actor
Colin Cooper, English footballer and manager
Seth Rudetsky, American musician, actor, writer, and radio host
Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer
Archbishop Jovan VI of Ohrid
Mikko Mäkelä, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
Claudio Chiappucci, Italian cyclist
Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian-American actress
Barry McGuigan, Irish-British boxer
Manuel Torres Félix, Mexican criminal and narcotics trafficker (died 2012)
Mark Pavelich, American ice hockey player (died 2021)
David R. Ross, Scottish historian and author (died 2010)
Ainsley Harriott, English chef and television presenter
Ian Smith, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
John Turturro, American actor and director
Cindy Wilson, American singer-songwriter
Francis Hughes, Irish Republican, hunger striker (died 1981)
Terry Leahy, English businessman
Adrian Dantley, American basketball player and coach
Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian, actor, and singer (died 2022)
Brian Billick, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
Luther Burden, American basketball player (died 2015)
Paul Krugman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
Ricky Steamboat, American professional wrestler
William Finn, American composer and lyricist (died 2025)
Zoia Ceaușescu, Romanian mathematician, daughter of Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena Ceaușescu (died 2006)
Ilene Graff, American actress and singer
Steven Chu, American physicist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Energy, Nobel Prize laureate
Mike Figgis, English film director, screenwriter, and composer
Bernadette Peters, American actress, singer, and author
Mercedes Ruehl, American actress
Stephanie Beacham, English actress
Salvador Flamenco, Salvadoran footballer
Robin Cook, Scottish educator and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (died 2005)
Syreeta Wright, American singer-songwriter (died 2004)
Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (died 2011)
Kelly Bishop, American actress
Edward Greenspan, Canadian lawyer and author (died 2014)
Sepp Maier, German footballer and manager
Storm Thorgerson, English graphic designer (died 2013)
Barbara Acklin, American singer-songwriter (died 1998)
Frank Bonner, American actor and television director (died 2021)
Brian Jones, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (died 1969)
Oliviero Toscani, Italian photographer (died 2025)
Dino Zoff, Italian footballer
Alice Brock, American artist, author and restaurateur (died 2024)
Mario Andretti, Italian-American racing driver
Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
Tommy Tune, American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer
Jeff Farrell, American swimmer
Rein Taagepera, Estonian political scientist and politician
Don Francks, Canadian actor, singer, and jazz musician (died 2016)
Ernst Hinterseer, Austria retired alpine skier
Peter Alliss, English golfer and sportscaster (died 2020)
Gavin MacLeod, American actor, Christian activist, and author (died 2021)
Len Newcombe, Welsh footballer and scout (died 1996)
Leon Cooper, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2024)
Hayden Fry, American football player and coach (died 2019)
Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect and designer
John Montague, American-Irish poet and academic (died 2016)
Tom Aldredge, American actor (died 2011)
Stanley Baker, Welsh actor and producer (died 1976)
Svetlana Alliluyeva, Russian-American writer, daughter of Joseph Stalin (died 2011)
Harry H. Corbett, Burmese-English actor (died 1982)
Robert A. Roe, American soldier and politician (died 2014)
Charles Durning, American actor (died 2012)
Radu Câmpeanu, Romanian politician (died 2016)
Marah Halim Harahap, Indonesian military officer, Governor of North Sumatra (died 2015)
Jadwiga Piłsudska, Polish soldier, pilot, and architect (died 2014)
Alfred Marshall, American businessman, founded Marshalls (died 2013)
Ketti Frings, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (died 1981)
Peter Medawar, Brazilian-English biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1987)
Stephen Spender, English author and poet (died 1995)
Billie Bird, American actress (died 2002)
Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (died 1988)
Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (died 1947)
Vincente Minnelli, American theatre and film director (died 1986)
Linus Pauling, American chemist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1994)
Zeki Rıza Sporel, Turkish footballer (died 1969)
Philip Showalter Hench, American physician and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1965)
Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1964)
William Zorach, Lithuanian-American sculptor and painter (died 1966)
Ants Piip, Estonian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (died 1942)
Pierre Fatou, French mathematician and astronomer (died 1929)
Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet and playwright (died 1949)
Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor and director (died 1941)
Arthur Giry, French historian and academic (died 1899)
Louis Godin, French astronomer and academic (died 1760)
René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French entomologist and academic (died 1757)
Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (died 1726)
Jost Bürgi, Swiss mathematician and clockmaker (died 1632)
Cornelius Gemma, Dutch astronomer and astrologer (died 1578)
Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher and author (died 1592)
Francis III, Duke of Brittany, Duke of Brittany (died 1536)
Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Norway (died 1283)
David Johansen, American singer-songwriter and actor (born 1950)
Miguel Piñera, Chilean celebrity, night club owner and amateur musician (born 1954)
Joseph Wambaugh, American writer (born 1937)
Ahmed Salim, Bangladeshi convicted murderer (born 1989)
Héctor Ortiz, Puerto Rican baseball player and coach (born 1969)
Cat Janice, American singer-songwriter (born 1993)
Joe Coulombe, founder of Trader Joe's (born 1930)
Freeman Dyson, British-born American physicist and mathematician (born 1923)
Sir Lenox Hewitt, Australian public servant (born 1917)
André Previn, German-American pianist, conductor, and composer. (born 1929)
George Kennedy, American actor (born 1925)
Yaşar Kemal, Turkish journalist and author (born 1923)
Hugo Brandt Corstius, Dutch linguist and author (born 1935)
Donald A. Glaser, American physicist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1926)
Annie Girardot, French actress (born 1931)
Paul Harvey, American radio host (born 1918)
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. American historian and critic (born 1917)
Owen Chamberlain, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1920)
Chris Curtis, English singer and drummer (born 1941)
Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian and librarian (born 1914)
Chris Brasher, Guyanese-English runner and journalist, co-founded the London Marathon (born 1928)
Mary Stuart, American actress and singer (born 1926)
Helmut Zacharias, German violinist and composer (born 1920)
Arkady Shevchenko, Ukrainian diplomat (born 1930)
Ruby Keeler, Canadian-American actress and dancer (born 1909)
Zara Cully, American actress (born 1892)
Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, American actor and comedian (born 1905)
Neville Cardus, English cricket and music writer (born 1888)
Charles Bassett, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (born 1931)
Elliot See, American commander, engineer, and astronaut (born 1927)
Isak Penttala, Finnish politician (born 1883)
Charles Nicolle, French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1866)
Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer and academic (born 1851)
Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian physician and immunologist (born 1874)
Adolf Zytogorski, Polish-British chess master and translator (born c. 1811/1812)
André Dumont, Belgian geologist and academic (born 1809)
Pietro Ottoboni, Italian cardinal and patron of the arts (born 1667)
Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (born 1590)
Khosrow II, Shah of Iran, Sasanian Empire (born c. 570)
Christian feast day: February 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Kalevala Day, also known as the Finnish Culture Day (Finland)
National Science Day (India)
Peace Memorial Day (Taiwan)
Andalusia Day (Spain)